Thief Apprentice
by peonyrose100
Summary: After rescuing a young girl from Youko's wrath, Kuronue has to face the penalty of making her his apprentice, but it's not as bad as he thinks it is, especially if you start to fall in love with said apprentice. Kuronue/Botan.


Chapter 1 - Apprentice

Kuronue's pov

The little girl, she was running for dear life from the two of us. I didn't want to off course, as if this young human girl could do much on her own. Youko, he was a different story, he didnt want her to mouth out our plans which she so obviously overheard. Why else would she have run as fast as she did? He also didn't spread enough bloodshed for the night, as he says. Seriously, even if she did get away and tell someone, they've never caught us before. Why would this be any different?

It doesn't matter anyway, we've cornered her to an old rikity house that could fall apart at any given time. She was doomed. She either gets sliced up with my scythe or torn apart with Youko's whip. Time for her to make a choice, and neither sounded pretty. Instead of facing her fate like I expected, the girl ran into the house. No way could she escape us now. I was about to go after her when Youko held his arm out.

"Heh, let's play chase, let's give her a few seconds." I sighed as I held back. What a nuisance my partner could be at times. I felt bad for the girl, wouldn't it be better to just kill her without her suffering? After 5 minutes, Youko finally decided to seek. "Well, it's time to find the rabbit." He then went into the old building, until I could no longer see him. Should I go in myself? At least if I find her, her death would be quick and painless. I knew how Youko was like, he liked doing the opposite, torturing his victims until they begged to die. So, I decided to find her first, I may be a thief, but I don't like needless killing.

I took one step into the house, the floorboards underneathe making a loud creaking sound. It didn't matter, but for some reason I didn't want Youko to know I was looking for her too. So, I treaded more carefully, looking in every space I could find that would hide a young girl. I couldn't find her downstairs, nor had I bumped into Youko. I had a feeling he wasn't upstairs either, probably looking outside in case she managed to escape. So, upstairs I went. I checked the first three rooms with no luck, I was starting to doubt she was still here, but I had to keep on looking.

It was the last bedroom that I found her in, hiding in the wardrobe. Such an obvious place to hide, but the shadows of the night helped her a great deal. She was shaking like mad, she must have known that she would be found, I felt pity for her. When I moved my hand towards her, she shrunk back. Hm, still some fight left in her. Surely that's all of it? I let out a deep sigh then lifted my scythe up above my head. "Sorry, kid. This is just business, so please don't take it persona-" When I looked into her frightened eyes, I saw myself when I was a kid. Frightened, alone in an abandoned house that I used to call my home. I couldn't do it, and I couldn't live with myself if Youko were the one to finish her off. So, there was only one option left...

"Oh, you found her. Good." Youko spoke as he went to stand beside me, a little confused. "So, are you going to finish her off, or am I?" I could tell he really wanted to. My hand started shaking. Why? Why was I afraid of him? We've been partners for years, but I saw him kill our comrades countless times before. I thought, no matter how long we've known eachother for, he'd probably strike me down eventually. Maybe that's why I was afraid? Maybe... "Well? Don't keep me waiting." I could tell he was getting really impatient. I had to tell him.

"Neither of us will." I said. The girl looked up at me, slight hope in her eyes.

"What?" He wasn't furious, as I expected him to be, no, he was merely curious. That gave me a confidence boost.

"I'll take her as my apprentice." Youko's ears perked up.

"Really? For what, may I ask?" I grinned as I kneeled down in front of her.

"To be a thief, what else?" When I reached out towards her, she shrunk back once again, which was understanable, off course. My grin turned into a friendly smile. "It's ok, we're not going to hurt you." I wasn't, but Youko could be charming one second then vicious the next, so I looked up at him. "We're not, right?" Youko shrugged, he seemed to lose interest now, thank god.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm bored so I'll be waiting outside. Do whatever you want with her. She may be a good slave, if anything." Then he was out the door.

"Well, I guess I was nervous for nothing..." I turned my head back down to the girl. She looked a lot less nerous now that Youko had left. "Don't mind him, he gave you the okay." I held my arms closer to her, she still pushed herself against the wardrobe wall. "Look, we either kill you right now or you're coming with us. We can't let you go free in case you spill our plans for our next raid. Not like we'd get caught either way, but..." She was still not budging. I sighed in irritance. "I don't want to kill you alright?"

"W-why...?" My eyes widened slightly. "Why not just kill me?!" I wonder that myself, it would be a lot easier for all of us if I did. I shrugged.

"I don't even know why, myself." I muttered, but she clearly heard as her eyes widened. "Come on, Youko's still waiting outside for us. Trust me, you don't want to get him mad." This seemed to get a reaction.

"O-okay..." She slowly made her way towards me. I held her when she got close enough, then I made my way out of the room. She hugged herself closer to my chest, still frightened. Was she afraid to what the future held for her? Most likely.

"What's you name anyway, kid?" Our eyes met once again.

"B-botan...what's yours, mister?" I mentally cringed at the word mister. I wasn't old enough to be called that, I'm less than 100 years old, darn it!

"Just call me Kuronue. That's my name, so please, no mister, okay?" I smiled as she giggled a little. It was a cute sound. Maybe this whole apprentice thing wouldn't be so bad, probably...

xxXxx

The forest was quiet, our target was a few meters away. I was sitting on a sturdy tree branch, high above so I got a good view of everything, which included my apprentice. It had been three years since I put her under my wing, and I must say I got favourable results. I hadn't expected her to be good with a scythe, or anything really. She was so scrawny, still is but she's still young. I saw movement to my left, she was about to make her move. The deer hadn't moved, now would be a good time to stike, and strike she did. The scythe struck home, right in the deer's chest. I grinned as I jumped down to the ground and landed with little to no noise.

"Well done, well done! I must say I'm impressed." I said as I began to clap. I began to frown as I did not see the same enthusiasm on her face. "What's the matter? You did a great job." She shook her head as she pulled the scythe from the still alive animal.

"It's so sad! I didn't expect to actually hit the poor creature, so I just went for it." Now I understood, she may have been with us for the past three years, but it was only recently that I let her come out and start to hunt. It was nice to see, if I'm being honest. These days, you see demons killing needlessly and violently, it's rare to see compassion in someone. I smiled sadly down at her as I used my own weapon to end the animal's suffering. I kept kneeling, staring at the still creature.

"You know, it's not a weakness to feel compassion. It's actually great to see." I looked up at her. She was only 13, yet she seemed older and wiser. Probably because she was raised by us bandits. She seemed surprised and little happy at that.

"Really?" I nodded as I stood up once again, pulling the deer's body onto my shoulder, I mentally cringed at the blood that got on my skin. Well, looks like I'm having a bath when we get back. She panicked when I did so. "D-do we have to go back right now?"

"Hm? Well, yes, that would be ideal. We were asked to retrieve one deer afterall, and besides, I don't feel like carrying this thing on my shoulder longer than I need to. Why?" I had an idea why she was so hesitant. Youko had come back with a few females before we left. She may be young but she's been around us long enough to know what he will be doing with said females, and they usually take a few hours to be done. You could usually hear them no matter where you are in the hideout. Yep, even I'm not looking forward to going back at the moment, but our comrades get quite rowdy when there's no food.

"Oh, no reason. I'm just wondering, is all." I shrugged as I began to lead the way back. Thankfully we haven't gone too far from the hideout.

xxXxx

"My, my. You brought back quite a big one. This will fill 10 people, at least." Himeko, our chef and also one of Youko's 'friend with benefits', exclaimed as we both came through the door. She always flirted with me, always showing off as much she could when I came into the room. Like she was now, her skirt was so short that it might as well not be there. Couldn't she get the hint? I'm not interested... She seductively walked towards me, putting her hand onto my chest. "Let me guess, you were the one that killed it? I love a man who can hunt." I sighed as I pushed her hand away with the back of my hand.

"Actually, no. Botan was the one who killed it this time." She scowled as she heard the happiness in my voice. Can you blame me for being proud of my apprentice? Her scowl turned into a grin when she turned to Botan.

"Really now? Wow, I'm impressed!" She then proceeded to pat the young girl on the forehead.

"Ye-yeah, but I didn't kill it, I just gravely hurt it. Kuronue was the one to, end it." This didn't seem to surprise Himeko.

"Heehee, thought so. You're too nice. Well, I should get started on dinner. You guys can go wash up, take a bath, whatever." The both of us nodded as we stepped out.

"What are you going to do now, Kuronue?" Botan asked. We both cringed when we heard Youko and his females go at it. 'Get away from them, for starters...'

"I'm gonna take a bath, the blood from the deer is making me feel uncomfortable. What about you?"

"I'm going to take a nap, bye." I smiled as I waved at her. I wonder if she'll be okay on her own, with them going at it. Her room is just down the hallway from his room. "They're just noises, she'll be fine..." I walked into the hot springs with my towel then began to undress. The water felt refreshing, the first thing I did was wash away the blood that had dried up. "Disgusting..." I let down my hair and began to wash it. Blood had also found it's way into it, so off course I felt much better when I was done.

"Kuronue, are you in here?" Called Botan from the female's side. I grinned as I replied back.

"Yeah, let me guess, you couldn't sleep because-"

"Yes! Can we not talk about it?!" My grin grew even wider, but decided to oblige her anyway.

"Sure." It was silent between the two of us, not that I minded it. It was rare to have silence in this place. A few splashes were heard from her side, no doubt from her washing herself. Yes, it was quiet moments like these I treasured. Come to think of it, the moans have stopped, thank god!

TBC

AN: So what do you guys think? Should I continue? I quite like it so far. There may be an m-rated scene at one point, but I've never done one before, so if I do decide to do it then it may suck, a lot. Please leave a review!


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